Last season, when the St. Louis Cardinals needed a little boost to swing momentum in their favor, they traded for Matt Holliday and Brendan Ryan grew a mustache. This weekend, after having swapped first place in the NL Central with the Cincinnati Reds 19 times throughout the season, the Cards saw their deficit grow to five games in the division. So they went out on the waiver wires, acquired a big bat and got right back into the playoff hunt. Or they all shaved their heads. Which one makes more sense?

While antics like this are hardly a rarity in professional sports, they still garner plenty of joyous attention. And that’s fine on days when 90 percent of the sports news media is focused on how Roger Clemens’ golf outing went after he plead not guilty to six felony charges. I imagine he failed to break 100, blamed the greenskeeper and then had his niece Kirby write an angry blog about him. But I digress.

Most of the players got their heads shaved before Monday’s game at Houston as a way to break the monotony of their longest road trip of the season. The players took turns doing the cutting and a large pile of multicolored locks covered the floor.

And it did wonders for the team, so much that they lost 3-0 in a two-hit shutout to the Houston Astros. Meanwhile, Brandon “Jabber Jaw” Phillips and the Reds won in extra innings against Milwaukee and extended their lead in the NL Central to six games. The once-entertaining NL Central race has turned into a typical NL Central race, and if you don’t think there’s frustration in St. Louis, then look no further than this game recap and subsequent Tweet spotted by Matt at Joe Sports Fan:

As for the NL’s Triple Crown race, Colorado’s Carlos Gonzalez seems intent on c*ckblocking the batting title, as his recent hot streak has boosted him to the lead at .326. Joey Votto is second at .325 and Albert Pujols is hitting .318. Pujols still leads homeruns with 35 and RBI with 95, but both Votto and Gonzalez are close behind him in both categories. Sadly, Chase Utley’s dreams of leading the NL in being hit by pitches for the third straight season may be dead.